JERUSALEM, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Israel will raise its defense spending by 42 billion shekels (about 12.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025 and 2026, the ministries of finance and defense said Thursday in a statement.
Local media reported that the budget agreement will allow the Defense Ministry to "advance urgent and essential procurement deals critical to national security."
According to the Times of Israel, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the new defense budget "fully covers the intense fighting in Gaza, alongside comprehensive security preparations for all threats -- from the south, the north, and more distant arenas."
It added that the current annual defense spending is 110 billion shekels, about 9 percent of gross domestic product -- out of a total 2025 budget of 756 billion shekels.
Military costs have surged since Israel launched a ground and air offensive in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Since Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza on March 18, at least 7,843 Palestinians have been killed and 27,933 others injured, bringing the overall death toll in Gaza since the start of the conflict last year to 58,667, with a total of 139,974 people injured, according to data released Thursday by health authorities in Gaza.
Apart from the offensive in Gaza, Israel also carried out regular attacks in the West Bank and Lebanon, and has launched waves of airstrikes in Syria most recently, all of which have met with strong condemnation from the international community. ■
